diff --git a/packages/clawhub/src/discovery.timeout.test.ts b/packages/clawhub/src/discovery.timeout.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e3ff4352
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/clawhub/src/discovery.timeout.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+/* @vitest-environment node */
+
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { createGlobalStubRegistry } from "../test/runtimeStubs.js";
+import { discoverRegistryFromSite } from "./discovery";
+
+const globalStubs = createGlobalStubRegistry();
+
+function stubNeverResolvingFetch() {
+  globalStubs.stub(
+    "fetch",
+    vi.fn(
+      (_input: unknown, init?: RequestInit) =>
+        new Promise<Response>((_resolve, reject) => {
+          const signal = init?.signal;
+          if (!signal) return; // hangs forever, like an endpoint that never answers
+          signal.addEventListener("abort", () => {
+            reject(signal.reason instanceof Error ? signal.reason : new Error("aborted"));
+          });
+        }),
+    ) as unknown as typeof fetch,
+  );
+}
+
+function stubJsonFetch(status: number, body: unknown) {
+  globalStubs.stub(
+    "fetch",
+    vi.fn(
+      async () =>
+        new Response(JSON.stringify(body), {
+          status,
+          headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
+        }),
+    ) as unknown as typeof fetch,
+  );
+}
+
+function stubRejectingFetch(error: Error) {
+  globalStubs.stub("fetch", vi.fn(async () => Promise.reject(error)) as unknown as typeof fetch);
+}
+
+function stubStalledBodyFetch() {
+  globalStubs.stub(
+    "fetch",
+    vi.fn(async (_input: unknown, init?: RequestInit) => {
+      const signal = init?.signal;
+      // Return a response with headers immediately, but body never completes
+      const response = new Response(null, {
+        status: 200,
+        headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
+      });
+      // Override .json() to hang forever (or abort if signal fires)
+      response.json = vi.fn(
+        () =>
+          new Promise<unknown>((_resolve, reject) => {
+            if (!signal) return; // hangs forever
+            signal.addEventListener("abort", () => {
+              reject(new DOMException("The operation was aborted", "AbortError"));
+            });
+          }),
+      );
+      return response;
+    }) as unknown as typeof fetch,
+  );
+}
+
+describe("discoverRegistryFromSite timeout", () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.useRealTimers();
+    globalStubs.restoreAll();
+    vi.restoreAllMocks();
+    vi.clearAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it(
+    "rejects with a timeout error when the endpoint never responds",
+    { timeout: 5_000 },
+    async () => {
+      stubNeverResolvingFetch();
+      await expect(discoverRegistryFromSite("https://example.com", 50)).rejects.toThrow(
+        /Request timed out after \d+s/,
+      );
+    },
+  );
+
+  it("clears the timeout when fetch rejects before returning headers", async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    const error = new Error("connection refused");
+    stubRejectingFetch(error);
+
+    await expect(discoverRegistryFromSite("https://example.com")).rejects.toBe(error);
+    expect(vi.getTimerCount()).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  it(
+    "rejects with a timeout error when the response body never completes",
+    { timeout: 5_000 },
+    async () => {
+      stubStalledBodyFetch();
+      await expect(discoverRegistryFromSite("https://example.com", 50)).rejects.toThrow(
+        /Request timed out after \d+s/,
+      );
+    },
+  );
+
+  it("still parses a valid well-known config", async () => {
+    stubJsonFetch(200, { registry: "https://example.convex.site" });
+    await expect(discoverRegistryFromSite("https://example.com")).resolves.toEqual({
+      apiBase: "https://example.convex.site",
+      authBase: undefined,
+      minCliVersion: undefined,
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("still returns null when both well-known paths 404", async () => {
+    stubJsonFetch(404, { error: "nope" });
+    await expect(discoverRegistryFromSite("https://example.com")).resolves.toBeNull();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/clawhub/src/discovery.ts b/packages/clawhub/src/discovery.ts
index 1a9964eb..807e2298 100644
--- a/packages/clawhub/src/discovery.ts
+++ b/packages/clawhub/src/discovery.ts
@@ -1,23 +1,74 @@
 import { parseArk, WellKnownConfigSchema } from "./schema/index.js";
 
-export async function discoverRegistryFromSite(siteUrl: string) {
+const DISCOVERY_TIMEOUT_MS = 15_000;
+
+// Mirrors the fetchWithTimeout pattern from ./http.js (not imported) so an
+// endpoint that accepts but never answers cannot hang discovery forever.
+// Returns both the response and the timeout handle so the caller can extend
+// the timeout to cover body parsing.
+async function fetchWithTimeout(
+  url: string,
+  init: RequestInit,
+  timeoutMs: number,
+): Promise<{
+  response: Response;
+  clearTimer: () => void;
+  normalizeError: (error: unknown) => unknown;
+}> {
+  const controller = new AbortController();
+  const timeoutSeconds = Math.ceil(timeoutMs / 1000);
+  let timeoutError: Error | null = null;
+  const timeout = setTimeout(() => {
+    timeoutError = new Error(`Request timed out after ${timeoutSeconds}s`);
+    controller.abort(timeoutError);
+  }, timeoutMs);
+  const normalizeError = (error: unknown) => timeoutError ?? error;
+  try {
+    const response = await fetch(url, { ...init, signal: controller.signal });
+    return {
+      response,
+      clearTimer: () => clearTimeout(timeout),
+      normalizeError,
+    };
+  } catch (error) {
+    clearTimeout(timeout);
+    throw normalizeError(error);
+  }
+}
+
+export async function discoverRegistryFromSite(siteUrl: string, timeoutMs = DISCOVERY_TIMEOUT_MS) {
   const paths = ["/.well-known/clawhub.json", "/.well-known/clawdhub.json"];
   for (const path of paths) {
     const url = new URL(path, siteUrl);
-    const response = await fetch(url.toString(), {
-      method: "GET",
-      headers: { Accept: "application/json" },
-    });
-    if (!response.ok) continue;
-    const raw = (await response.json()) as unknown;
-    const parsed = parseArk(WellKnownConfigSchema, raw, "WellKnown config");
-    const apiBase = "apiBase" in parsed ? parsed.apiBase : parsed.registry;
-    if (!apiBase) return null;
-    return {
-      apiBase,
-      authBase: parsed.authBase,
-      minCliVersion: parsed.minCliVersion,
-    };
+    const { response, clearTimer, normalizeError } = await fetchWithTimeout(
+      url.toString(),
+      {
+        method: "GET",
+        headers: { Accept: "application/json" },
+      },
+      timeoutMs,
+    );
+    if (!response.ok) {
+      clearTimer();
+      continue;
+    }
+    // Keep timeout active through JSON body parsing to guard against
+    // peers that send headers but never complete the response body
+    try {
+      const raw = (await response.json()) as unknown;
+      const parsed = parseArk(WellKnownConfigSchema, raw, "WellKnown config");
+      const apiBase = "apiBase" in parsed ? parsed.apiBase : parsed.registry;
+      if (!apiBase) return null;
+      return {
+        apiBase,
+        authBase: parsed.authBase,
+        minCliVersion: parsed.minCliVersion,
+      };
+    } catch (error) {
+      throw normalizeError(error);
+    } finally {
+      clearTimer();
+    }
   }
   return null;
 }